Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1887-11-26
THE CATTLE SITUATE ON.
Montana Livestock Journal.

Montana Livestock Journal.
The causes which have led up to the
present great depression in the cattle
market are patent to every one who is
acquainted with the history of the cattle
business in the west during the past de-
cade. Take Montana as q case in point.
A few years ago every one who could
raise little money invested it in cattle.
A great many sold their ranches and
turned the proceeds into horned stock.
Drafts We're made upon contiguous Ter
ritories for their surplus, and these not
meeting the demand, drove after drove
was hurried up from Texas. 1t
was said to be the only legiti-
mate business in the country that
would pay two per cent. a month on the
money invested. A heifer calf was re-
garded in about the same light that the
ancient Romans regarded their geese
as sacred, and the knife of the butcher
glittered not before its eyes. Yet cattle
were comparatively low. Ten years ago
the writer sold small herd Of two and
three-year-old heiferS at $3.50 per head.
This was then considered fair price for
! them.
There was no very marked increase
in the number of cattle in the Territory
nor in their assessable value until after
the advent of the Northern Pacific rail-
road within our boundaries, when a
yeritable cattle craze struck the Terri
tory Their value nearly doubled and
stock was rushed in from the east, west
and south. and the great ranges to the
eastward of the Rockies were made to
feel their presence. Many farmers in
the mountain ranges who, from small
beginnings, had increased their herds
beyond the capacity of the surrounding
| grazing lands, drove them to the great
pastures to the eastward. Of course
those ranges soon became overstocked.
The result was what might be ex-
pected, and what the more far-seeing
cattle men considered inevitable sooner
or later Although confident that as
long as the springs and summers favored
the growth of native grasses and We're
followed by light snowfalls in the winter
stock would do fairly well the year
round, they knew that ''hard winter
would prove fearfully destructive to
range cattle. Their predictions have been
verified. The spring and summer of 1886
were unusually dry, and left the great
| herds upon the almost bare ranges poorly
prepared to stand the snow and cold Of
last winter and fully 60 per cent of them
laid down and died. The loss bore
! heavily upon the stockraisers of the terri
tory, but only one company. the Mob
rara. went under This company entered
the winter with $4,000 head Of cattle; it
came out of it with 5000 head.
| As consequence of the heavy losses
| sustained by many individual cattle
raisers and by cattle corporations, they
found themselves, to a greater or less
/ degree, financially embarrassed and
| hence they were forced to dispose of
such numbers of their stock as would
relieve them from their pecuniary diff
! ficulties. As about the same or even
greater losses We're sustained by the
stock interests in other Territories and
in the western states. leaving owners
under a financial cloud, they have also
decimated their already thin herds in
order to square themselves with their
creditors. The result has been largely
overstOcked markets and low prices.
This condition of things must, however,
soon end. The west cannot mulch longer
stand the drain made upon it of nearly a
quarter Of q million of cattle per month
at the Chicago stock yards, not taking
I into account the vast numbers slaughter
/ ed in Kansas City and st. Louis.
4 reaction VIII set III for we do not
believe any of the large cattle-owners
in the Territory wish to sell out OF the
! business. The fear that another winter
of cold and deep snow may follow close
/ upon the heels OF the last may have
something of a factor with many in
/ prompting the rush of cattle to the east.
/ If so, it Will soon be realized or dispelled.
/ for winter viii soon be upon US and cat
/ tlemen will be compelled to face the mu-
sic whatever the song may be.
/ OF one thing. however. the cattlemen
/ feel assured. Their stock Is in better
condition 10 endure hard winter than it
was a year ago. The Darwinian theory
! of the survival Of the fittest had a hear
ing, as it were. among the stock of the
country last winter. Those that survived
the cold and hunger proved their vitality
and power of endurance and their fitness
to live. Measured by that theory. Mon
( tana never before possessed such hardy
stock as ii does today. The bones of the
weaker ones lie bleaching upon the
ranges.
, But. as was said. a reaction in the
price Of cattle was bound TO come. The
season has been extremely favorable to
the growth of grass and the ranges are
in excellent condition. The losses of last
winter and the shipments of this season
have thinned the herds and cores
pondingly increased the chances Of
stock passing safe through the ensuing
winter. With nearly all their liabill-
ties met. stockmen VIII open the spring
rounduPs with strong herds and renewed
courage. Just enough stock VIII be
shipped 70 meet current expenses, and
before another year rolls around some
thing near the old prices for beef viii
prevail in the great markets Of the
East. Those who have been able 10
hold their cattle vii then reap a rich
harvest.
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